Exhumed - The Kildares

In many ways The Kildares are the perfect Exhumed band... By day, two of them are teachers and another works in I.T., but each Wednesday after work they come together, set up their drums, plug in their amps, and blast out some great rock from the early 1960s.

They formed at the Portland North school where Adam Hardcastle and Paul Booth work, with the idea of putting a band together for the end of year staff function.

Drummer Jamie Hollyoak has a background in electronic music but was keen to throw himself into The Kildares rawer rock and roll to complete the lineup.

As Paul says, that first gig was "between a staircase and a couch", and had its fair share of problems with lights going out and amps misbehaving.

Their second gig at a local hotel wasn't much better - another band had also been booked to play that night in another part of the hotel, and the organisers weren't expecting The Kildares to be a full on rock band.

After some negotiation they managed to play a short set while the other band were having a break.

They were looking forward to a third staff performance until the end of year function was booked at a sit down restaurant with no room for a band.

Despite the problems they've encountered playing live they've pushed ahead with their music, drawing heavily on garage rock from the period 1961 to 1966.

They've discovered a lot of material through trawling online videos, and have really enjoyed concentrating on short, sharp songs by artists including The Masters' Apprentices and The Black Diamonds.

The Kildares have also written a few originals inspired by events from their chosen period such as the disappearance of Harold Holt.

Adam is keen to see the band mark some of what they've achieved so far by either playing more live gigs or recording a vinyl 12".